Patriots

The Patriots announced Thursday that QB Tom Brady did not practice due to a right hand injury.

Brady reportedly jammed his throwing hand during Wednesday’s practice after accidentally being run into by a teammate (NFLTR). However, X-rays later showed that Brady does not have any structural damage.

Reports have said that Brady is expected to be fine for Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the Jaguars, barring an unexpected setback.

Former NFL physician David Chao writes that main possibility for Brady’s specific injury based on the recent reports is that he has a finger dislocation that tore the skin from the inside out.

Chao mentions that this injury most frequently happens to the pinky or ring finger and they’re typically the least troublesome for a quarterback.

However, if Brady injured his thumb, it would be “devastating” in terms of his ability to grip the ball and spin it on passes.

All things considered, Chao says that as long as it’s not his thumb, Brady should be fine this weekend.

Rams

Rams veteran OLBConnor Barwin mentioned that he would “love” to be back with the Rams next year.

“I’d love to be back,” Barwin said, via Rams.com. “This is my third time [that] I’ll be a free agent. I’ve been down this road before. I’ll just let it take care of itself, enjoy these next couple of months, and then hope to be back and get to work.”

Barwin added that Wade Phillip’s 3-4 system is “the best for me to play in.”

“I know the people around here know that and people around the league know that,” Barwin said. “So it makes sense from a football standpoint to be back in this system.”